Padded key for wind instruments.



APPLICATION FILED 00113, 1914.

Patented Feb. 15,1916.

aM UMM @Xhtwwow J%@ I 0., WASHINGTON, n. c.

DAVID M. WEAKLEY, OF EAST LAKE, ALABAMA.

PADDED KEY FOB WIND INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1916.

Application filed October 13, 1914. Serial N 0. 866,534.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID M. WEAKLEY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at East Lake, in the county of J efferson and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PaddedKeys for Wind Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the padded keys of windinstruments such as flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and likeinstruments which have keys or finger pieces provided with pads toengage and close the holes in the instrument.

The principal object of my invention is to attach the pads to the keysin such manner that the pads may be removed easily and quickly from alltypes of keys without moving the key or dismounting it from the1nstrument.

A further object of my invention is to so attach the pad that it may beadjusted in the key thereby permitting pads of coupled or double keys tobe simply and effectively adjusted into perfect alinement.

In the present practice, the changing of pads necessitates the removalof the keys from the instruments to give access to the pads attached totheir underfaces so that they may be disconnected or removed from thekey and a new pad properly and firmly seated in place. WVhere windinstruments are in constant use thisrepadding of the keys is requiredmany times a year and as only an expert can do it properly, theinstruments must generally be sent to the factory and repaired at aconsiderable cost, practically all of which is for the tedious laborrequired in handling and replacing the keys and adjusting their delicatesprings.

The purpose of my invention is to mount the key pad in such a simplemanner that a musician can quickly change and replace his pads at merelya fraction of the cost at which such pads are now replaced.

In my preferred arrangement the pad is mounted in a pad holder which isscrewed or otherwise adjustably mounted at the end of the key, thearrangement permitting the vholder to be disconnected and liftedoutwardly away from the key without disturbing or removing the key.

My invention also comprises the details of construction and arrangementof parts which in their preferred embodiment only are hereinafter moreparticularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a sectional view through a wind instrument showing oneform of key with my improved key pad holder mounted therein. Fig. 2 is avertical transverse cross section through a like instrument showing adifferent form of key. Figs. 3 and 4 show my invention as applied todifferent forms of keys which are coupled or connected for jointoperation. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the pad holder removed; and Fig. 6shows the key in perspective with the set screw and pad holder detached.Fig. 7 illustrates the pad holder underlying the finger plate, the viewbeing a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 4. Figs. 8 and 9 illustratemodifications of the pad holder.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

The instrument 1 illustrated is typical of the various types of windinstruments requiring padded keys. As shown in Fig. 1 a key 2 is mountedon the shaft 3 and provided with a rear spring 4 which holds its padbearing end in position to close an opening 5 in the instrument. Theforward end of the key, instead of forming a plate or pad holder to theunderface of which a pad is attached, as is the common practice, isprovided with a thin integral ring 6 which is internally threaded. Thepad holder is separate from the key and comprises a top 7 and a lightthin externally threaded body portion 8 adapted to be screwed into thering 6 and having in its inner face a recess 9 to receive a pad 10 whichmay be made fast therein by cement, glue, or in any other suitablemanner. In case of 'keys such as shown in Fig. 3 where the padded end ofthe key is depressed by the finger of the operator, the top 7 of the padholder forms the finger plate for the key. The pad holder, after havingthe pad attached thereto, is

screwed inwardly into the ring 6 until the pad is brought to the desiredposition, after which a small set screw 11 is preferably used to set thepad holder in its adjusted posi tion. The set screw is screwed inthrough a small threaded opening in the ring 6 at a point mostconvenient of access and may be loosened to permit the pad holder to beremoved or to be screwed further down into the ring when the wearing ofthe pad requires such adjustment. The most important advantage of theadjustability of the pad holder arises in connection with coupled keys,of which the key 13 in Fig. 2, is typical. Several of such keys arefrequently mounted on the same shaft for joint movement and it isdesirable that their pads should be maintained in alinement which isdi'llicult by reason of the different wear of the pads. In the presentpractice thin pads are applied beneath the rear ends 12 of the keys13until the pads 10 of coupled keys are brought into alinement. Thisrather clumsy and crude method of adjustment is entirely obviated bymaking the pad holder itself adjustable on the key toward andfrom theinstrument. 7

The simplest and most convenient manner for removingthe pad holder is tomake its connection to the key such that it may be detached and liftedup or outwardly without disturbing the key. This arrangement offers nodifficulty except in the case of keys such as illustrated in Figs. 3 and4. In Fig. 3 the key 14 is intended to be depressed with key 15and alsoto be capable of operation inclependent of the key 15 which carries thelinger plate 17 for both keys. The key 15 is provided at the side of itsring 6 adjacent to the key 14 with a stud 16, and the finger plate 17for the two keys is provided with a central shank which is screwed intoa threaded opening in the stud 16. To permit the pad holders to bedisconnected and detached outwardly from these keys, the linger plate 17is first removed and then the pad holders can be unscrewed o1 reinsertedin the same manner as in the case of the key 2, Fig. 1. In Fig. 4 thetwo keys 18 and 18 are rigidly connected together by a web 19 and thecommon finger plate 17 is screwed into this web until it engages thetops 7 of the pad holders.

The edge of the plate 7 on the pad holder is milled and spanner wrenchholes 20 are provided in its top face, so that it can be screwed by handor by a wrench if necessary. The set screw 11 is preferably providedwith a tapered point 21 which is arranged to engage between the threadson the pad holder 8 so as to avoid defacing the same.

In Fig. 8 Ihave shown the marginal edge of the top plate 7 of the padholder flanged at 22 so as to overlap the outer edge of the ring 6 andthis covers up any unsightly gap which might be left between the top ofthe ring 6 and plate 7 before the latter has been screwed inwardly toits lowest position. This flange also is roughened to give an effectiveringer grip. Tn some instances, particularly where the pad holder is notintended to serve as the finger plate, and alarger range of adjustmentis desired, the holder mav be made in the form shown in Fig. 9 where thetop plate 7 is eliminated and the entire side walls of the holder arethreaded so that it may be screwed below the top level of the ring 6 ifdesired.

he construction shown constitutes what T regard as the preferredembodiment of my invention, but it is obvious to those skilled in theart that the particular means shown for detachably mounting the padholder on the key may be widely varied without departing from the spiritof my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A key for wind instruments having a pad holder detachably mounted onan end thereof, substantially as described.

2. A key for wind instruments having a pad-holder detachably mounted onan end thereof and forming the finger plate for the key, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination of a key, a pad holder detachably connected to an endof said key, a pad, and means to attach said pad to said holder,substantially as described.

4. The combination with a key for wind instruments, of a pad holder, anda pad at tached to the underface of said holder, said pad holder and padbeing outwardly detachable from the key while attached to theinstrument, substantially as described.

5. A padded key for wind instruments, having at one end an internallythreaded ring, and a pad holder screwed inwardly into said ring andhaving in its inner-face a key pad, substantially as described.

6. Tn a device of the character described, in combination, a key, a padholder detachably and adjustably connected to one end of said key, and apad attached to the inneriace 01 said holder, substantially asdescribed.

7. In a device of the character described, in combination, a key havinga light internally threaded ring at one end, a threaded pad holderhaving a flanged top, said holder being adapted to screw into said ring,and

a pad attached to the inner-face of said holder, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a device of the character described, in combination, a key havinga light internally threaded ring at one end, a screw threaded padholder, said holder being adapted to screwinwardly into said ring, a

pad attached to the inner face of said holder, and a set screw to fastenthe holder in adjusted positions in the ring, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a Wind instrument, padded keys therefor, said keys comprisingframes, pad holders detachably mounted on and outwardly removable fromthe ends of said frames, and a finger plate detachably connected to theframe of one key and overla 10 ping the pad holders of adjacent keys, sostantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID M. WEAKLEY. Witnesses:

R. D. JOHNSTON, Jr., NoMm WELSH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patente,

Washington, D. 0."

